Shadows of Ash and Gold

Chapter seventeen

Thanksgiving went surprisingly good. It was all food and laughs, the devaras got along good with mom and Finn, even west had a big grin on his face for most of the night. Everyone talked of stories of their childhood, it was a little fabricated from the devaras but it was fine. The night was perfect. It felt normal. It felt like an escape, an escape we all needed.

For one night we got to pretend we were normal teenagers. Like we weren't about to go on a quest looking for a weapon that could wipe out an entire species.

Vegas was ... well it was something. The lights were amazing. But the city itself was interesting. There were people everywhere, at all times of the day, crowding the streets. The majority of the places here smell like cigarette smoke and alcohol.

The devaras hotel was beautiful, not that i expected anything less from them, they had shown to be quite luxurious. The first floor was a cousino, crowded with hundreds of people. Slot machines echoed from every angle, lights lit up the floor, people playing poker cheered around. Who in the hell ran this place? How was it even owned by them? I had so many questions.

"Okay," Bash said once we were all in the penthouse settled down. "This is the plan."
The plan was simple and totally not thought out at all but I kept my mouth shut from saying anything, I trusted that they knew what they were doing.

Me and Ever would go see this supposed Seer and try to get as much information on the Vad as we could and the rest of them would hunt greers for the night and hope to find one who was higher up and knew the king and his plans. It was ... Well it was a plan, but it wasn't a good one. No. no I'm keeping my smart mouth shut.

"This is creepy," I whispered to Everson as I stared at the strange country house that sat in the middle of the desert. The roof was falling apart, and the drive here had to be at least thirty minutes. This didn't seem right. The house looked abandoned. The roof was peeling away with mold and dirt. And it looked as if the porch was about to cave in.

"Stop being a baby," he said. "She just doesn't like the city that much."

"Is it because she doesn't want anyone to hear us scream when she kills us?"

He tossed me a side grin. "Precisely."

***
MARA

Mara was good at gambling. She always had been, it was a skill of hers that she actually enjoyed, back in her home city she remembered playing and beating all kinds of men at poker. Of course they never got angry with her, or were sore losers; they were simply happy to play with her. Be in her presence. She was their princess after all. And now she was there queen, but she couldn't even rule over them. She couldn't lead them. She shook the thoughts from her head, now was not the time.
She caught a glance of herself in a window reflection.

Her long wavy hair spread out around her, messily, she was wearing a golden dress that complemented her skin tone and long classy diamond earrings. She knew it might be a bit much for gambling but Mara had always preferred to be overdressed.

Kaida stood next to her, in a tight black sheen dress, it had gold stars on it that brought out her yellow eyes. That made her look more beautiful than she already was. Kaida shot her a look, her brows drawing in very gently. If Mara was anyone else she wouldn't have noticed it, she would have simply brushed it off, but she was herself. And she knew this was Kaida's way of communicating.

Kaida could somehow always notice when something was off with Mara, everytime, she always knew. Mara was grateful for it, she wouldn't have gotten through half of the things she did without Kaida.

Mara gave her a soft smile. "It's fine, Kai, we should get going."

Mara had won eight times. Eight. She had an extraordinary grin on her face as she rolled the dice again. People had begun to crowd around her table, watching her in disbelief and probably contemplating if she were cheating.